Archie v. Penders Case Mediation Postponed to October

One would think that, given the uncertainty that exists with some circulation of current and future Sonic comic releases in the wake of Diamond Comics abiding by a legal notice pertaining to Knuckles Archives #3, Archie would want to get to the table and talk things out with Ken Penders’s counsel as soon as they were able.  An opportunity for such talks was coming up on Tuesday, the first scheduled mediation session in the case.

It turns out that will happen much later than originally scheduled.  It was Archie’s counsel that sent this latest adjournment request (after Penders’s lawyers approved, says the letter obtained through public record) to judge Richard Berman, who then approved it a day after we reported on the legal notice to Diamond.    The letter was dated September 12th, the same day our story broke.

Scheduling conflicts on all sides due to religious holidays and other matters are to blame for the delay.  Judge Berman ordered the mediation session be scheduled to a date no later than October 24th.  A subsequent status conference, once scheduled for October 3rd, will now be held on the 30th.

Why is that important?  Barring any intervention, it in theory will allow Penders and his legal team, if they so desire, to press on with legal notices pertaining to upcoming Sonic issues they feel violate copyrights that, while being contested by Archie in this case, remain legally valid. If successful, such notices could have an impact on the availability of future Sonic comics and re-releases published by Archie, including The Complete Sonic the Hedgehog Comic Encyclopedia, which is scheduled for release on October 30th.

We will continue to follow developments.